Generally, an endoscope is an instrument that is inserted into an internal organ, a lesion of which cannot be examined directly unless an operation or biopsy is performed, to thus examine the internal organ. There are various types of endoscopes, including a type which is called a direct scope and comprises one tube, thus allowing a user to observe internal organs using his or her naked eyes, a type using a lens system, a type in which a camera is inserted directly into internal organs, and a fiberscope using glass fiber.
Further, recently, there have been proposed several kinds of operating instruments, which are constructed so that an instrument for stitching is attached to the endoscope and then is inserted into a patient's internal organ, thus performing an operation on the internal organ without incising the patient's body. For example, Korean Patent No. 10-0551740, which is entitled “Bead for stitching and apparatus for stitching internal organ using the same,” was filed by the same applicant as the present invention, and was registered.
A conventional bead for stitching and a conventional apparatus for stitching an internal organ using the bead will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1 to 4 are views sequentially showing the process of stitching an internal organ using the conventional stitching bead and stitching apparatus using the bead.
In the case of stitching the internal organ by the conventional stitching bead and stitching apparatus using the stitching bead, as shown in FIG. 1, a stitching needle 10 passes through an organ tissue 2 having a wound 3 which must be stitched. Next, a push pin 12 is pushed downwards so that one stitching bead 20 is discharged to the lower portion of the organ tissue 2.
When one stitching bead 20 is discharged to the lower portion of the organ tissue 2, as shown in FIG. 2, the discharged stitching bead 20 remains on the lower portion of the organ tissue 2, and only the stitching needle 10 is moved upwards. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the stitching needle moves over the wound 3 and then passes through the organ tissue 2 again. Here, the stitching bead 20 is inserted in a vertical direction. However, when the stitching needle 10 is taken out from the organ tissue, a stitching fiber 1 is pulled out through a bead hole 22. Thus, the stitching bead 20 is rotated at right angles to be in close contact with the lower surface of the organ tissue 2, as shown in FIG. 3.
A user repeats the operation of discharging the bead 2 and the operation of moving the stitching needle 10 upwards, in the state of FIG. 3. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4, the stitching beads 20 are placed on the lower surface of the organ tissue 2 in such a way as to be positioned on opposite sides of the wound 3. In this way, the wound 3 can be stitched.
However, even though the internal organ is stitched using the conventional bead for stitching, the bead 20 may move upwards from the organ tissue 2 and the suture of the wound 3 may undesirably come unstitched, if the bead is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the bead 20 the same as the passing direction of the stitching fiber 1. Further, whenever one stitch is made, one bead 20 must be precisely discharged. As such, the conventional bead for stitching has a drawback in that it is difficult to discharge the beads 20 precisely one by one. Further, since the conventional bead 20 has a complex structure, it is difficult to miniaturize the bead. Thus, the number of beads that may be inserted into one stitching needle 10 is limited. Hence, if many regions must be stitched, an endoscope tube 30 must be pulled out from a patient's body and be reloaded with beads 20. Afterwards, the endoscope tube 30 must be inserted into the patient's body again. As such, the conventional bead for stitching is problematic in that medical treatment is complex.
Further, the conventional apparatus for stitching the internal organ is problematic in that, while the stitching needle 10 passes through the organ tissue 2, the stitching needle 10 may injure other internal organs or blood vessels positioned under the organ tissue 2.
In order to solve the problems, a vacuum apparatus for stitching an internal organ has been proposed, which is constructed to pull up a region which must be stitched using vacuum pressure and to stitch the wound of the organ tissue.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the use of the conventional vacuum apparatus for stitching the internal organ.
As shown in FIG. 5, the conventional vacuum apparatus for stitching the internal organ includes an endoscope tube 30, which is inserted into a patient's body, a stitching needle 10, which is mounted to the endoscope tube 30 in such a way as to protrude out from the endoscope tube 30, and a vacuum cap 40, which is coupled to an end of the endoscope tube 30. Further, the endoscope tube 30 is provided with a suction tube (not shown), which draws air from the interior of the vacuum cap 40.
Thus, after an operator puts the vacuum cap 40 on an organ tissue 2 around a region having the wound 3, air is drawn from the vacuum cap 40 using the suction tube, so that vacuum pressure is created in the vacuum cap 40. As such, when the vacuum pressure is created in the vacuum cap 40, the organ tissue 2 of a region corresponding to the interior of the vacuum cap 40 is pulled towards the endoscope tube 30. Thus, even though the vacuum needle 10 passes through the organ tissue 2, the possibility of injuring other internal organs or blood vessels positioned under the organ tissue 2 is reduced.
In order to perform the normal discharge of the beads, the stitching needle 10 must be inserted sufficiently deeply into the organ tissue. However, since it is difficult to precisely know the depth to which the stitching needle 10 is inserted, the stitching needle 10 is frequently inserted into the organ tissue too deeply. Therefore, the conventional vacuum apparatus' for stitching the internal organ is problematic in that it cannot completely prevent other internal organs or blood vessels from being injured by the stitching needle 10.